`SMILIN' ASSASSIN' LEADS.(SPORTS)

Byline: Associated Press

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- With an ever-present smile and a 5-foot-7 frame, Shigeki Maruyama doesn't look like much of a threat on the golf course.

But he's not nicknamed the ``Smilin' Assassin'' for nothing.

Maruyama reeled off nine birdies en route to an 8-under 64 Friday and a commanding lead after two rounds of the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro.

Maruyama, who is at 15-under 129, leads at the halfway point by five shots over Brad Faxon, who lost in a playoff here in 1997.

Maruyama laughed when asked about his nickname.

``I'm not as dangerous as an assassin,'' he said with a smile.

Faxon, …